Dark Sonic: Unstoppable
by HTKWolfe777
Summary: Dark Sonic, an alter ego so powerful that Sonic is afraid to use it. But when tragedy strikes, the darkness within Sonic is unleashed upon the world. Will Sonic be able to control this being of Negative Chaos Energy; or will he, and the entire world be conumed by its wrath? Rated M for Blood, Strong Language, and Death.
1. Chapter 1

_**Chapter One**_

Shadow the hedgehog stands on a large rock, staring out at the ocean before him. The sound of the waves crashing is almost hypnotic, and he soon finds himself lulled into a calmer state of mind, something he can rarely afford.

"Hey, Shads!"

Shadow's eyes snap open, and he growls in the back of his throat. He turns to come face to face with a certain blue cretin that just won't seem to leave him be.

"What do you want, Faker?"

Sonic shrugs, "Nothing much, just a race."

"Not interested," Shadow turns away from Sonic, and watches the sunlight glint off of the waves in front of him.

"Huh," Sonic wipes his nose with a finger. "Looks like it's finally happened. Shadow knows he can't beat me, so by refusing he admits that I'm the better hedgehog!"

Shadow whirls to snarl at Sonic, "I'm going to make you eat those words!"

"If there's a Chili Dog in there somewhere, then sure!" Sonic takes a running stance, "First one to get to Angel Island, and tag Knuckles is the winner! 1, 2, 3, GO!"

Sonic bolts, Shadow in close pursuit. A family out for a picnic catches a glimpse of them, a flash of blue light followed by a flash of gold light. Shadow keeps pace with Sonic, and the two go neck-and-neck.

"So, Shadow, what's been happening buddy?" Sonic grins as he looks at the ebony hedgehog out of the corner of his eye.

"I'm not you buddy," Shadow growls. "How many time do I have to say it?!"

"As many as you like, but I know the truth. So how have you been?"

"Any time _you're _not around is a good time to me."

"Ouch," Sonic grips his chest. "That hurt Shadow, it makes me wanna cry... But not as hard as you're going to cry when I beat you!" Sonic dashes ahead after catching Shadow off guard with his talk.

Why you..." Shadow glares, speeding up on his Hover-Shoes to catch the cerulean speedster. "Chaos Spear!"

Sonic dashes left, and right to dodge the bolts of Chaos Energy, "Whoa, Shadow! That's cheating!"

"No rule against it, now is there," Shadow chops a hand filled with Chaos Energy at Sonic's head, who ducks out of the way as Shadow takes the lead.

"Okay," Sonic grins. "Two can play at this game!" He jumps into a Homing Attack which Shadow easily dodges. Sonic rolls into a Spin-Dash, which is slower than he usually runs. Shadow is caught off guard, and barely jumps out of the way before running into Sonic. A whirring sound reaches his ears as orbs of blue light begin to appear out of thin air, and rush towards Sonic.

Sonic uncurls, revealing blue Chaos Energy encompassing his body. Shadow watches him curiously from over his shoulder.

"Ready... Go!" Sonic becomes a flash of blue light, barreling straight towards Shadow.

"Hmph," red Chaos Energy flows around Shadow, protecting him from Sonic's Light-Speed Attack. Soon the light fades from around Sonic, and he's running neck-and-neck with Shadow again.

"You've gotten better," Shadow concedes. "But you're still not good enough to beat me. Chaos... BLAST!"

"Whoa!" Sonic, catching on to Shadow's plan curls, and begins gathering Chaos Energy again. The force of the blast pushes Sonic away, but doesn't hurt him.

Shadow ignores Sonic, instead pouring more energy into his shoes. He's made it to the Mystic Ruins now, and Angel Island isn't too far away.

"Hey Shadow!"

Shadow sees Sonic a few yards off to his left, surrounded by blue energy. Sonic gives him a thumbs up, "Catch you on Angel Island!" Sonic uses a Light Speed Dash to bolt right up a mountain to its summit.

"Don't think you can beat me so easily, Faker. Chaos Control!" Shadow appears right next to Sonic, and trips him up before dashing down the other side of the mountain. Angel Island is nearly right in front of him, and he dashes across the bridge to appear in front of a surprised Knuckles.

"What the-" is all the Echidna has time to say before Shadow throws a punch at him. Knuckles blocks it, and throws a punch right back at Shadow. He flips backwards, off of the Master Emerald's dais.

Shadow drops his fighting stance, and crosses his arms, "I win."

Knuckles growls at Shadow, and then Sonic all but tackles him.

"Score!" Sonic crows.

"Too late," Shadow says with a grin.

"What the hell are you two doing on my island?!" Knuckles grabs Sonic, and throws him down the steps towards Shadow.

"Ow," Sonic groans as he gets to his feet. "No fair Shadow, you attacked me."

"Again there was no rule against it. Aren't these races supposed to decide which of us is better? You can't expect me not to give it my all."

Sonic sighs, "Okay, I get what you're saying. But I call for a rematch!"

"Hold on," Knuckles yells, his temper rising steadily. "You mean you two were using me for a stupid race?"

"Yup!" Sonic gins.

Knuckles glowers at them, "Sonic I could expect this from, but I thought you were better than that Shadow."

"Why should your expectations mean anything to me?" Knuckles snaps some kind of comeback at Shadow, but he doesn't pay him any attention as his wrist communicator beeps at him.

Shadow answers it, "What is it Rouge?"

"Hey handsome," Rouge croons at him. "Long time no see."

"Get to the point."

"Whoa, touchy! Anyhow, Egghead's back in Central City. How soon can you get here?"

"I have a Chaos Emerald, I'll be there in a few seconds."

"It's a date," Rouge winks at him on the screen. "He's on west avenue, please hurry. Rouge out!"

Shadow ends the call, and Knuckles gets in his face, "Hey, I'm talking to you."

"Even if we had time for this, which we don't, I wouldn't be interested. The Doctor is in Central City, so I'm being called in."

"Sweet," Sonic pumps a fist in the air. "Now's a good time for that rematch, Shads. Lets see who can take Eggman down first."

"I'm not interested in your stupid games, Sonic. Not when someone could get hurt. Don't you ever take anything seriously?"

Sonic shrugs, "Fine, but I still wanna help. Hey, Knucklehead, wanna come?"

Knuckles crosses his arms, "Unlike you, Sonic, I have responsibilities to take care of." He turns, and trudges back up the stairs to the Master Emerald.

"I'm guessing that's a 'no'," Sonic says as Shadow pulls a dark blue Chaos Emerald from his quills.

…

In a flash of royal blue light, the two hedgehogs appear on a rooftop in Central City. Below is the usual mob of terrified bystanders trying to get out of the way. Sonic starts his warm-up routine while Shadow scans the area for Eggman.

Rouge flies down, and hovers in front of them, "It's about time you two showed up. Eggy is just a few blocks south of here, and he's already made a mess of the place."

Shadow nods, and bolts across the rooftops with Sonic on his heels. Within seconds they see smoke rising above the rooftops, a sure sign of a disturbance. They halt on the edge of another rooftop to appraise the situation. Eggman has resurrected his old robot Missile-Wrist, and is chortling his head off while it wreaks havoc.

"He is so running out of ideas," Sonic shakes his head sadly before jumping onto the street to confront Eggman.

"There you are," Eggman leans out of his personal carrier. "It's about time you showed up!"

"Sorry I'm late," Sonic quips. "But I had to bring along a friend of mine."

Shadow warps onto the other side of Missile-Wrist, arms crossed.

"Oh ho! Shadow, well this is an unexpected bonus!" Eggman grins eagerly, "I hope you two won't mind, but I need someone to help me test my newest invention!"

Sonic scoffs, "What are you talking about? I turn that bot into scrap years ago, remember?"

"Oh I remember quite well, Sonic," Eggman glares down at him. "But this is a new, and improved Missile-Wrist. Lets see how you fair this time, ATTACK!"

The green, and yellow robot turns to Sonic, and aims his arms at him. Sonic grins while going into a crouch, waiting to spring at the last minute. For a few seconds nothing happens, and then Missile-Wrist fires his grappling hands at Sonic. Sonic dodges, but to his surprise the hands are trailing him like homing missiles.

While Sonic has the bot distracted, Shadow launches into the air, firing a Chaos Spear at the robot's back. He eyes widen as the bolt of energy doesn't even leave a scratch.

Meanwhile Sonic leaps onto a streetlight with the missiles in close pursuit. He does a short hop just before the missiles make contact, and lands on top of them. A surge of electricity goes through Sonic's body, and he's sent flying with his fur smoking slightly.

Eggman laughs as Shadow dashes over to Sonic, "On your feet, Faker, the fight's not over yet."

Sonic winces as he gets up, "Of course not, Shads! I'm just warming up."

"Well I hope you're done warming up, because we're in trouble. Chaos Spear has no effect, and I can't use Chaos Blast in such a narrow street. I might end up bringing the buildings down on all of us."

"And we obviously can't touch it," Sonic notes as Missile-Wrist reels in his hands. Suddenly Sonic perks up, "Shads, I got a plan!" He whispers it into Shadow's ear.

"Hm," Shadow gives Sonic a look of mild surprise. "That might actually work." They both grin as they settle into a running stance.

"Ready... GO!" They both run straight towards the robot.

Eggman scoffs, "Missile-Wrist, destroy them both!"

"Affirmative," Missile-Wrist says in a bassy robot voice, and launches one of his hands at each hedgehog.

"Now," Shadow barks, and runs to the robots right while Sonic goes to the robot's left. The missiles trail after them as they start running/skating circles around Missile-Wrist.

Eggman watches for a few seconds before he catches on to their plan, they're trying to tie him up!

"Missile-Wrist, desist!"

"Affirmative," Missile-Wrist calls off his attack, and reels in his arms again.

Sonic, and Shadow regroup a few meters out of the robot's range, "Dang it, we almost had him!"

Shadow frowns, "Hm... Okay, now it's my turn." He turns to Sonic, "I need you to get that thing's attention, but stay mobile."

"No problem Shads!" Sonic gives a thumbs up while Shadow growls at the hated abbreviation of his name. Sonic runs up, and starts making funny faces, and mocking gestures at Eggman.

Eggman goes red in the face, "Missile-Wrist, pulverize that pest!"

"Yes Master," Missile-Wrist fires his hands at Sonic again, who takes off in the opposite direction.

Shadow warps to the side, "Chaos Spear!"

The golden bolts make contact with the cables connecting Missile-Wrist to his hands, and severs them. Shadow smiles, the robot can't be so heavily armored everywhere.

"Nice going, Shadow!" Sonic preforms a back-flip like something out of the Matrix as the missiles sail underneath him. They collide with the side of a building with such a force that a slab of concrete the size of a Volkswagen falls from four stories up. Sonic looks up in the nick of time to dodge it, and lets out a sigh of relief.

A bit too soon as it so happens, because the slab makes contact with a streetlight which comes down on top of Sonic. When the dust clears, Sonic is pinned to the street by his midsection.

"Ho ho ho ho ho!" Eggman laughs as he floats forward. "Is it my birthday? Because it certainly feels like it!" From the front of his carrier comes the barrel of a laser, and it's pointed squarely at Sonic.

"Thank you for volunteering to test out my latest laser, Sonic, and I'm not sorry in the least if you don't survive! Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"

From out of an alleyway, Amy Rose pokes her head out to see Sonic pinned in front of Eggman. She gasps, "Sonic!" before charging forward, hammer in hand.

Eggman doesn't even notice her as he presses the "Fire" button for the laser. The end begins to glow amber, and Sonic starts to panic. He can wiggle out from under the light, but not before the laser fires!

Suddenly Shadow appears between Sonic, and Eggman. He grits his teeth as his body becomes encased in red Chaos Energy. The beam fires at him, and Shadow holds steady, confident in his abilities.

He eyes go wide as the beam pierces his armor-like coating of Chaos Energy, hitting him square in the chest. The glowing energy fades as falls to his knees, and then his face.

"Shadow!" Sonic finally manages to get out from under the streetlight, and turns his buddy over. Shadow groans in pain, he eyes are barely open. Amy stops, lowering her hammer while staring at the impossible scene before her. Eggman leans out of his carrier, a look of curiosity on his face.

"Shadow," Sonic is panicking again. "Buddy, say something!"

"... Sonic?" Crimson eyes meet Emerald ones. "I can... feel it... Sonic..." He grunts in pain, "This is it for me..."

Sonic's eyes widen in shock, and he shakes his head, "Don't talk like that, Shads, you're gonna be okay!"

Shadow lets out a mirthless chuckle, "Idiot... I know when... I'm beat..." He raises a shaky hand to grip Sonic's arm in a weak grasp.

"Sonic... I made a... promise... so long ago... that I... would give... the people of Earth... a chance... to be happy..." A humorless grin curls Shadow's lips, "My job's not done yet... but I can't stay any longer... Promise me..."

Tears form in Sonic's eyes as he realizes the gravity of what's happening. Hesitantly, he nods, "I promise, Shadow."

Shadow's eyes glaze over as the world goes dark. Suddenly he sees a pinprick of light, and a familiar figure reaching out for him.

"...Maria?" And with that, his hand falls limply from Sonic's arm. Tears fall freely from Sonic's eyes as he squeezes then shut, and clasping Shadow's body closer to him.

It starts in Shadow's fingertips, and slowly spreads. All colors slowly turn a light brown, and his body begins to disintegrate. Sonic sees this, and desperately tries to keep what's left of shadow together while the wind blows Shadow away particle by particle. But it's no use, in a few minutes all that's left of Shadow the Hedgehog is a pair of Hover-Shoes, and two pairs of Inhibitor-Rings. Sonic sobs as the truth hits him harder than any of Eggman's machines ever could.

Shadow the Hedgehog is dead.

Eggman leans back into his carrier, and look of disbelief on his face. Suddenly he starts chuckling. Those chuckles escalate into guffaws, and then he's absolutely roaring with laughter.

"I did it," he shouts to the skies. "I finally did it! I created a weapon that will help me take over the world, and all its inhabitants!"

While Eggman is busy monologuing his soon to be victories, a glint of light catches Sonic's eye. He reaches over, and picks up Shadow's Chaos Emerald. He stares at it with tears in his eyes, and then his eyes harden. His hand squeezes the emerald, and his body begins to change.

His fur becomes much darker, almost black as soot. Quills splay out, and rise into the air like his Super form. His eyes go from green to black, and flecks the color of blood appear. He stands, and turns to Eggman who is too caught up in his own greatness to notice just how much danger he's in.

"All shall kneel before the might of the Eggman Empire, and then I'll take my conquest to other worlds, and-"

"**SHUT UP**!"

"Hm?" Eggman notices Sonic for the first time, and does a double take. Sonic raises the Chaos Emerald for Eggman to see, and tendrils of black smoke encase the jewel. The smoke seeps into Sonic's skin, taking the emerald with it. The air around Sonic becomes darker, as if the presence of the hedgehog is sapping light from it.

"Well, Sonic," Eggman grins, trying to look unperturbed. "That's certainly a new look for you, very nice!"

Sonic growls, "**You... YOU DID THIS**!"

Eggman powers the laser again, but Sonic breaks it with a kick before it can fire. Eggman pulls his carrier higher into the air as Missile-Wrist steps forward to crush Sonic.

Sonic chuckles darkly, "**Too slow!**" Missile-Wrist jerks as Sonic disappears, and then suddenly reappears behind the robot, holding the golden Chaos Emerald. Eggman just has time to make out the hole in Missile-Wrist's chest before the robot blows up.

Smoke absorbs the second emerald as it flows into Sonic. Sonic looks up at Eggman who is frantically typing a command into hi carrier.

"**Huh,**" Sonic launches himself into the air, using a Homing Attack at Eggman. His carrier vanishes in a flash of white light as Sonic passes through the air where he used to be.

Sonic hovers in the air, and black aura swirling around him, "**Eggman...**" Sonic clenches his fists, and growls.

"**EGGMAN!**"

The force of that shout causes windows in nearby buildings to crack, or shatter.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

Sonic has never felt this angry, never in all his life. He feels the familiar sensation of Chaos Energy flowing through his body, but it's different this time. Whenever he's gone Super Sonic, the Chaos Emerald's energy made him feel like a living flame. The power flowing through him now absolutely _burns_ him on the inside.

Sonic looks at his hands, and catches sight of his darkened fur. What is this power? It's more than he ever felt as Super Sonic, and that was before he had collected the two Chaos Emeralds. This power is coming from _him._

"Sonic!"

The familiar voice calling hi name causes him to turn, and he sees Amy standing in the street below. He allows himself to float down to her, and Amy walks up to him.

"Sonic," Amy has a look of concern on her face. "What's going on?"

Sonic stares at her, and then he blinks. When he opens his eyes they're his normal green color. His quills return to his usual swept-back style, but the darkened fur stays.

"I have to find him, Ames," much to Amy's relief, Sonic's voice is back to normal too. That growling double-timber that had been there before was something one might expect from a demon, not her Sonic.

"Sonic," she has tears in her eyes as she reaches for him. Sonic lowers his gaze, and steps around her to where Shadow once lay.

He balls his fists again, "He's dead, Ames. He's dead, and we can't even give him a proper funeral." Sonic kneels down, and picks up one of Shadow's inhibitor rings. "Eggman has got to pay for this."

Amy's eyes widen, "Sonic, what are you going to do?"

Sonic turns to her, "I'm gonna find Eggman, and make him wish he'd never been born."

"Sonic, no!" Amy rushes up to her hero, "Please Sonic, don't do it. It's not you!"

Sonic's eyes darken the slightest bit, "Shadow was right, Amy, I never took anything serious before now. I was so convinced that I was the best there is that I never even thought that anyone around me would get hurt. And now look what's happened." Sonic holds up the ring for her to see, "I did this Ames, and just imagine what Shadow would say if he could talk to me now."

"He'd tell you not to be an idiot," Amy pleads. She didn't know Shadow that well personally, but she knew him well enough in her opinion. "Sonic, what will going after Eggman solve?!"

"It'll stop him from hurting anyone else," Sonic puts Shadow's ring in his quills.

"Sonic-"

"My mind's made up!" Sonic turns away from her, and starts down the street.

"Then take me with you," she dashes forward, and grabs his hand.

He stops, and closes his eyes, "No Ames, not this time. You won't like where I'm going, and you'll just get in my way. I can't risk you being hurt too."

Amy gasps, and recoils from him with tears in her eyes. For so long she wanted to hear something from Sonic that proved he cared about her... But not like this.

Sonic looks at her from over his shoulder, and gives her a small, sad smile, "Catch you later, Ames." And with that he disappears with Chaos Control.

Amy stands there stunned for a few seconds before sinking to her knees. She puts her face in her hands, sobbing miserably.

…

Vector, Charmy, and Espio are at their detective agency headquarters. Vector is listening to his music, his favorite pastime when there's no work. Espio is meditating in a corner, one would not have noticed him unless they were looking for him. Charmy is outside playing on a swing, he's only seven so he can't be expected to act mature.

Suddenly a flash of dark blue light catches the little bee's attention, and he sees a familiar silhouette headed for the agency building. Charmy buzzes over to greet the visitor.

"Hi there- …Sonic, is that you?"

The now not-so-blue speedster grins, "Yeah it's me, how ya been Charmy?"

Charmy can't stop staring, "Wow, did you dye your quills to copy Shadow?"

Sonic winces, "Charmy, I got a job for the Chaotix."

Charmy's eyes go wide, and he beams at the hero, "Okay, follow me!" Charmy buzzes excitedly through the front door, forgetting to put on the brakes before bowling into Vector.

"Charmy?!" The crocodile does not look pleased, "What's gotten into you?!"

"We got a job!" Charmy begins flying circles in the air singing "we got a job" over, and over again. Meanwhile Sonic walks through the front door.

Espio greets him, "Welcome to the Chaotix Detective Agency, Sonic. You brought us a job? This is most unusual."

Vector walks up to Sonic, "Love the new look, Sonic" Vector grins with a thumbs-up, "So what's the job?"

"It's pretty straight-forward," Sonic says, taking a seat in front of Vector's desk. "I need your guys' mad detective skills to help me find Eggman."

Vector's grin fades, "Why? Doesn't he usually come looking for you?"

Sonic sighs, "You all may want to sit down for this, it's pretty rough." Vector takes his seat, and Charmy perches on Vectors desk. Espio takes the other chair in front of Vector's desk.

Sonic takes a deep breath, "Shadow is dead."

Charmy gasps, and Espio's eye go wide. Vector blinks, "Are you sure? I mean, we've all assumed Shadow was dead before, twice in fact!"

"He's dead," Sonic's voice bears the weight of a few hundred trucks. "He died in my arms."

Charmy sniffles, "W-what happened?"

And Sonic tells them. He tells them about the fight with Eggman, about the new robot, about the new ray, and about Shadow turning to dust in his hands. He doesn't tell them about Shadow's last words, or the promise he made. With all that he's told them so far, he doesn't think they can take much more.

"I can't believe it," Vector stares at the floor sadly.

"He was always a formidable warrior," Espio's voice is calm, but the hurt in his eyes is blatant.

Charmy is openly sobbing, the poor kid just lost one of the few heroes he's ever known.

Sonic closes his eyes, "I'm sorry you had to hear about it like this. I'll pay you whatever you want-"

"How dare you!" Vector's shout makes Sonic jump in his seat.

Vector stands, and leans across his desk, "Shadow was a great friend, and a great hero! If anything, we owe Shadow!" Vector slams a hand on his desk, "You have the word of the Chaotix that we'll do whatever we can to help bring that Eggman to justice!"

Sonic blinks, and looks at the others. Vector's eyes are blazing with determined fury, no wonder he's the head of the agency. Charmy is standing on the desk, tears still streaming from his eyes as he raises a fist in his own form of childish determination. Espio stands, and crosses his arms. His eyes sending the message that he is willing to give his all for Shadow.

Sonic smiles, "Thanks guys, you're the best."

Vector reaches for the phone, "I'll get ahold of the others, and then we'll-"

"No," Sonic cuts him off, and the crocodile pauses. "Ames was there, and she saw Shadow die. She'll tell the others, and they'll catch up soon enough. We have to stop Eggman before he can hurt anyone else.

Vector stares at Sonic for a minute, and then he sits down, "Okay, so where do we start?"

…

Miles "Tails" Prower is in his lab when he hears a frantic pounding on the front door. He stops what he's doing, and answers the door.

"Amy?" Tails stares at the pink hedgehog, she looks like a mess, like she's been crying for hours. The whites of her eyes are darker than her fur, and her nose is all runny.

"Oh Tails!" She wraps him in a hug, crying into his shoulder. He braces himself on reflex for suffocation, but it seems like all the strength has left her. He guides her to his living room, and sets her on the couch. He brinks her a box of tissues.

"Amy, what's wrong?"

She pulls herself together enough to tell him, "It's Sonic... and Shadow... Eggman..."

Tails waits patiently for her to tell him.

"I was on my way home when I heard the explosions," she begins. "It took me a few minutes, but I eventually found where they were coming from. When I got there, Sonic was pinned to the street, and Eggman was firing a laser at him. I tried to help, but before I could do anything... Shadow got in the way."

Tails's eyes widen, fearing the worst.

"Shadow got between them, and tried to protect Sonic." Amy sniffles, holding back more sobs, "Whatever he tried, it didn't work. Shadow died in Sonic's arms, and then he turned to dust."

Tails gasps, but Amy keeps going, "And then something happened to Sonic, Tails. His fur got really dark, and his eyes changed color. He looked a bit like his Super Form, but the aura he gave off was all wrong... He was so angry, Tails. I think he absorbed Shadow's Chaos Emerald, and the one Eggman was using to power his new robot... And then he attacked Eggman.

"Eggman got away, and that made sonic even angrier. I talked to him, but he started talking about getting revenge for Shadow... He said he was going to make Eggman pay for what he did."

Tails feels numb as Amy looks into his eyes, her's filled with hurt, "He blames himself for Shadow's death, Tails. He's acting like himself anymore... I'm scarred..."

Tails's mind is a whirlwind, he can't completely grasp what Amy has told him. Shadow dead? Sonic out for revenge? Is he just having a bad dream?

No, the hedgehog sobbing on his shoulder is all too real for it to be a nightmare. He pushes away his own hurt in order to help Amy, that's what Sonic would have done.

"I'll call the others," Tails wipes Amy's face with a tissue. "Once everybody's here then we can start finding a way to stop Sonic."

_Before he does something he'll regret,_ he adds silently.

It takes about two hours, but in that time Knuckles, Rouge, and E-123 Omega have gathered in Tails's house. He fills them in on the story so Amy won't have to relive it again. Though he rather she wasn't involved at all, Tails calls Cream over to give Amy some emotional support.

"I... I'm not sure what to say," Rouge says sadly. She may have been what Shadow considered his closest friend.

"If I had just gone with them," Knuckles clenches his fists in regret.

Shadow will be sorely missed," Omega speaks up. "However we must attend to the matter at hand before we can have the time to mourn. I have no record of the type of transformation Sonic the Hedgehog underwent earlier this afternoon, however it by description appears to be similar to his Super transformation."

Tails nods, "She said his quills went straight up. We've seen that happen whenever Sonic, Silver, or... Shadow went Super."

Rouge winces a bit at the sound of her friend's name, but brushes it off as best she can. "So it's like a Super Form... but it's not? I don't understand how that's possible."

"It could be a form that channels the Negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds," Knuckles muses out loud. "Everything of great power is made up of both light, and dark energies; another way to describe them is positive as light energy, and negative as dark. This is essential in maintaining a balance within nature. The only exception is the Master Emerald, which keeps its own energies in check by siphoning off its power into the Chaos Emeralds, and keeping Angel Island in the air."

He glares at Rouge, "Which is why it's so important to keep it on Angel Island. If it's away for too long, eventually it will overload."

"Which would be bad," Rouge waves off his complaint. "But what does this have to do with Sonic?"

"Computing..." Omega is silent for a minute, and then, "There is a 98.6% chance that through his interactions with Power Rings, and Chaos Emeralds that Sonic has become a link to the Chaos Force."

"Just like Shadow," Rouge's ears perk up in understanding.

"In other words, a being of great power," Knuckles crosses his arms.

"Affirmative, and if my hypothesis is correct, the use of all the Light energies he has used time and again has caused him to amass a large reservoir of Dark energy, which was made to keep the light in check."

"And Sonic has never given in to that darkness," Tails frowns. "But now that this has happened, he's not like himself anymore."

"Is he in danger?"

The four of them turn to see Amy, and Cream with Cheese in the doorway. Amy looks on the verge of tears again.

"There is no precedent," Omega reasons. "Ergo, we can not be certain. However, Sonic the Hedgehog has been battling Darkness all his life. Ergo, he will not be easily consumed by it."

"That is if he's aware of it," Tails looks up suddenly. "This hasn't ever happened before guys! He doesn't know he could be in danger!"

"We need to find him," Knuckles says. "We need to warn him, and stop him if possible."

"But we have no idea where he might be," Rouge points out.

"Not entirely true," Creams says, and all eyes turn to her. "While I was on my way over, Charmy called my cellphone. I always told him that if he needed to get something off of his chest that he could talk to me. He said that Sonic has gone to the Chaotix, and he hired them to help them track down Eggman."

"Then we have a lead," Omega begins running some internal diagnostics. "We must move immediately if we are to catch Sonic the Hedgehog before he makes his first move."

"Right," Tails says. "Amy, you and Cream should stay here. We'll keep you posted, okay?"

Normally Amy would have protested, saying that Tails shouldn't treat her like the kid when she's older than him, but today she just doesn't feel much fight in her today. She nods numbly as the rest of them head for the door. Cream takes her into the kitchen to make some hot chocolate, and Amy does her best to push all thoughts, and fears from her mind


	3. Chapter 3

_**Chapter Three**_

_**Twenty Minutes Ago**_

"Yeah," Charmy wipes the last of his tears away, and stares at Sonic. "How are we supposed to find Eggman? The Police have been trying for years, how are we supposed to get to him?"

Espio stares at a wall dominated by several different maps, "He has to leave a trail of some sort, there's something that should give him away."

Sonic is fiddling with Shadow's ring while Vector "Hm"s next to Espio. Charmy comes in with a tray bearing tea, and offers Sonic a cup.

"That's it!" Vector smashes a fist into a hand, his outburst startling the others. Charmy almost drops the tea, but Sonic catches the tray.

"You've found something already?" Sonic's a little hopeful, and a bit skeptical. He's barely been in the office for fifteen minutes; if they have a lead already...

Vector turns to him, "Haven't you ever wondered how Eggman gets all his equipment? Metals, and other stuff for robots costs money, and we all know Eggman can't be employed anywhere."

Sonic sets the tray on Vector's desk, and walks over to the crocodile, "Never really crossed my mind before. Mostly I just think of ways to take his machines apart, not how they're put together."

"Well here's the answer," Vector crosses his arms smugly. "The only place a well-known criminal like Eggman can get parts for his toys is the Black Market."

Sonic raises an eyebrow, "You guys have contacts in the Black Market?"

Vector rubs his head, "Well, not exactly, no. But Espio here is well-known in the underworld as one of the best ninjas on the planet. I'm willing to bet that someone will answer a few questions for him."

Sonic turns to Espio, "Any ideas of where to start?"

Espio draws a Kunai Ninja Knife, and sticks it on a seemingly random part of the map, "Indeed, I think I do."

…

Tails, Rouge, Knuckles, and Omega land in front of the Chaotix Detective Agency about twenty minutes after leaving Tails's laboratory. None of them can use Chaos Control, but at least they have the next best thing.

Tails rings the doorbell, and they get no response.

Omega steps forward, "Motion scanners indicate the premises has been deserted."

"So nobody's home," Rouge puts her hands on her hips.

Tails looks thoughtful, "Sonic's already left then. From what I know of the Chaotix, they always leave at least one person behind to answer the phone, unless they have a major case."

"Which means that they're making their move," Knuckles growls. "Sonic always was one to rush this along."

"Well then we need to catch up," Rouge pulls a small case out of her pocket, and kneels in front of the door. It turns out to be a lock-picking set, and the door is open in under a minute.

They head in to the Chaotix's main office, and start looking around.

"So what are we even looking for?" Knuckles is looking over some boxes by the door.

"Something that can tell us where they went," Rouge is looking through some papers on Vector's desk. It's so messy, it's no wonder the Chaotix have a hard time keeping their business afloat.

"You mean like that?" Knuckles points at Espio's knife, still poking out of the map on the wall.

"Yup, nice going, Knuky," Rouge grins flirtatiously.

Omega looks at it, and then at the tray of tea on Vector's desk, "Thermal heat readings indicate that these were only recently handled, no more than twenty minute ago."

"So we just missed them," Rouge pouts.

"Guys, look!"

All heads turn to Tails as he bends in front of a chair. He pulls a sampling vial out of the fur of his Tails, and a pair of tweezers. From the fabric of the chair he pulls a few thin, dark quills.

"From Sonic," he breathes. "It has to be! Once we get back to the lab I can run some test to get a better idea of what's happening to him."

"That's nice sweety, but we have bigger fish to fry right now." Rouge pulls the knife out of the wall, "Omega, can you get us to this address?"

"Scanning..." Omega studies the map, and then straightens up, "Scan complete, address located. Affirmative, commencing mission, "Sonic Rescue." Spare magazines loaded, internal core fully functional, power output at 50%."

"In other words, it's time to lock 'n load!" Rouge runs through the door, the others close behind her. Tails casts one last sad look at the office before closing the door behind him.

…

Sonic, and the Chaotix appear in a flash of dark blue light inside an alleyway. Vector looks out cautiously, giving the others a thumbs-ups as the all-clear. Espio takes point, sonic at his side as they approach the run-down building across the street. A man dressed in dirty clothes that look like they've been pulled out of a dumpster looks up at them.

"Password?" He smiles at them a bit drunkenly. Before he can blink, he's pinned to the wall by a pair of thrown Kunai. Espio, in one fluid motion, had thrown them single-handedly. The man seems to have sobered up quite suddenly as he looks at them wide-eyed.

He clears his throat, "Um, he'll be expecting you." The man raps the door behind him three times with his knuckles. Espio retrieves his knives, and the group walks into the building. The outside had looked pretty run-down, but beyond the door the building is obviously well-kept. Luxurious furniture creates a beautiful parlor, like the kind one might expect in a fancy house instead of an old building. On the far side of the room is a large door flanked by two large men in suits.

Sonic leads the Chaotix across the room, and pushes through the door without even giving the guards a second's glance. Inside short portly human sits behind a desk. He looks up from his paperwork at their arrival, and gives them a warm smile.

"My word," he says in a deep, friendly voice. "If it isn't the Chaotix, and the world renowned Sonic the Hedgehog! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Sorry, Michael," Vector replies. "But this is a business visit."

Sonic frowns, "If you guys know each other, then why was that guy out front asking for a password?"

"There is no password," Michael stands, and walks around his desk. "Richard just warns me if someone tries to enter without permission. That password gag is to throw off undercover cops."

Sonic's eyes narrow a bit, but he moves on, "I need to know where to find somebody. He's bald, has the world's biggest orange caterpillar on his upper lip, and plans his future empire out in his free time. You know who I'm talking about, no where is he?"

Michael raises his eyebrows in surprise, and glances at Vector who nods. Michael clears his throat, "Well now... Dr. Robotnik isn't the easiest man to find, even for me. I can honestly say I don't know where he is."

Sonic's eyes darken the slightest bit. He looks at Vector from over his shoulder, "Can I talk to him alone for a few minutes?"

Vector blinks, and then nods. The Chaotix step out into the parlor, shutting the door behind them.

Michael sighs, "Sonic, I'm sorry, but really I have no-" He cuts himself off when Sonic snaps his fingers, and black chains appear over their side of the door. Sonic turns to Micheal, his irises becoming black with red streaks.

"Here's what I think, _Michael_," Sonic snarls the words, and his left hand begins to glow blue. "I think you know exactly where Eggman likes to hide, how else would you get him all his shiny new parts?" Sonic slowly advances on the poor human with the grace of a predator.

Michael hurries behind his desk, "W-wait Sonic! I swear, I don't know where-!"

Sonic makes a back-hand motion with his glowing hand, and the table is reduced to splinters. Michael is thrown backwards, his head hitting the wall. As he tries to get his world to stop spinning, Sonic hauls him to his feet by the front of his shirt, and presses him to the wall. A dark blue bolt of Chaos Energy, a Chaos Spear, is grasped in Sonic's left hand as he stares Michael in the eyes, "I'm willing to bet that even if you don't know where to find him, which I'm still convinced you do, then you know someone who does."

The Chaos Spear hisses through the air as Sonic levels it with the man's throat, "Now start talking."

Michael panics like any sane person would in this kind of situation, "Sonic! I swear on my mother I don't know where he is!"

Sonic rears back the Spear.

"But!" The sudden outburst makes the dark hedgehog pause. Michael is panting, "But... I might know where you can find out..."

Sonic narrows his eyes, "**I'm listening...**"

Michael winces at the change in his voice, "It's not definite... but for a while now someone has been skimming off the top of my shipments... It's always random, so I can't ever figure out who's doing it, or where they'll hit next."

He swallows a lump in his throat, "No matter who I hire, they always fail... It might be him, but I'm not sure. That's all I know, I swear!"

Sonic frowns thoughtfully, "**When is your next shipment?**"

Michael shudders, "Tonight... Three AM, Station Square Docks, Warehouse number eight..."

Sonic drops the human, and gives him a friendly grin, "Thanks for the help." His eyes turn back to normal as he turns to leave. His Chaos Spear, and the chains on the door vanish.

The Chaotix get to their feet as Sonic pushes his way through the door. "We got what we came for," he announces. "Lets go."

In a flash of blue light the four of them disappear. Michael rubs his chest as he steps out of his office. After making sure that they're gone he closes the doors behind him , and scans the ruined remains of his office.

He pulls a small black cell phone from a coat pocket, and dials a number.

"Get me the boss... We have an emergency on our hands..."

…

Cream glances at Amy for what feels like the fiftieth time in the last few minutes. Amy looks like she'll just fall apart if Cream doesn't keep a close eye on her. She spare a glance at the cookies she has in the oven before reaching for the oven mitts.

Amy is sitting on the couch, Sonic's words play through her head over, and over again.

_I have to find him Ames..._

_He's dead, Ames. He's dead, and we can't even give him a proper funeral..._

_Eggman has got to pay for this..._

_I'm going to find Eggman, and make him wish he'd never been born..._

_It'll stop him from hurting anyone else..._

_I can't risk you being hurt too..._

Amy can't help running horrid scenes through her head. Sonic, _her_ Sonic, out for blood. Him breaking Eggman's neck with a laugh, impaling him in the heart with a metal rod, putting a bullet between his eyes... It all seems impossible, but that's what Sonic promised would happen.

She doesn't even notice when Cream sits next to her with a plate of cookies.

"... Amy?" Cream squeaks tentatively to her best friend.

Amy turns her head to Cream, and tries to smile. The attempt makes Cream feel like wincing.

"I made cookies," Cream holds out the plate. Amy takes one, and bites into it. She might as well be chewing cardboard for all the enthusiasm she shows.

Cream decides that she has to say something, "They'll be alright Amy, don't worry. Mr. Sonic is a hero, he'll do the right thing."

"_My mind's made up!"_

Amy cringes, "I don't know, Cream... I've never seen him like this... What if..." Tears start to stream from her eyes, "What if we're losing him? I'm so afraid."

Cream sets down the plate, and pulls Amy into an embrace, "We won't Amy, I promise we won't."

Amy starts crying into her shoulder. As much as she wants to believe her best friend, she just can't. Cream hadn't seen the look in her hero's eyes moments before he vanished. Amy had seen rage... and hopelessness. Sonic truly believes this is the only thing he can do, and everyone knows there's no stopping him once his mind's made up.

All Amy can do at this point is cry, and pray.

_Please... Anyone... Please, save Sonic!_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Chapter Four **_

Cream looks up from the dishes as the front door opens. Tails, Omega, Rouge, and Knuckles come through looking a bit annoyed.

"What happened?" Cream puts down the dishes, and dries her hands on a towel.

Tails sighs, "We went to the Chaotix to catch up with Sonic, but it turns out they already left. We thought we found a clue, but it turned out to be a false lead."

Cream sits on the couch, "Are you sure?"

Knuckles growls, "Why would Sonic be looking for Eggman in a Pizza Hut?"

They're quiet for a minute, and then Rouge asks, "How's princess?"

Cream glances upstairs, "I suggested she take a nap. Poor thing..."

Tails pulls out the samples he took from the Chaotix, "It wasn't a total bust. I better get to work on these, see if I can find out what's happening to Sonic." With that he heads to his lab downstairs.

A few hours pass, and everyone tries to find some way to pass the time while Tails is in his lab. Cream coerces Knuckles, and Rouge into a game of cards. None of their hearts seem to be in it though. Omega sits in a corner, running calculations through his CPU, and hoping to determine where Sonic might be through statistics. It's not working out so well. Amy is still in bed.

Finally Tails comes up from the lab, all heads turn in his direction. He sits on the couch next to Cream, and folds his hands in his lap.

He swallows, "I analyzed the samples, and isolated the negative Chaos Energy in them... They're almost completely taken over by it." Tears form in his eyes, "At this rate, Sonic will be consumed."

There's an exchange of worried glances, and then Omega speak up, "Do you have an estimate of how long it will be until this comes to pass?"

Tails wipes away a tear, "Two days, maybe less."

Suddenly Omega's head does a 180, "Proximity warning, Chaos Energy detected!"

They all tense up, and a few of them jump when the doorbell goes off. Knuckles bravely steps forward to answer the door.

"What the-?!"

On the other side of the door stands two very familiar figures. Cream peeks around Knuckles, and squeals in delight.

"Blaze! Silver!" She jumps out the door, and hugs her favorite cat.

Blaze smiles down at her, and rubs her head, "It's good to see you too, Cream."

Knuckles nods to Silver before letting them both enter. Rouge sighs, "I'm sorry, but if you two have got a problem ours is bigger!"

"I have a feeling we have the _same_ problem," Blaze says coolly. "Not even an hour ago, one of GUN's undercover agents was attacked by Sonic."

Their heads snap up at that, and Knuckles steps in front of her, "Do you have any idea where he is?"

"We know where he will be," Silver steps up beside his partner. "GUN asked us to find you guys, and find out what's wrong with Sonic."

Tails clears his throat, "Well... it started earlier today when Eggman killed Shadow-"

"What?!" Both their eyes widen in alarm.

Rouge nods, "Amy was the one who saw it happen. Apparently Eggman made a new laser, and from the sound of it it can pierce Chaos Energy. She says Shadow got in the way when Eggy tried to shoot Sonic, and ended up getting shot himself."

Silver crosses his arms, and looks at the floor. Blaze closes her eyes for a few seconds, and then says, "We can mourn later, what happened to Sonic? Our agent says he looked different than usual."

Knuckles nods, "Yeah, after getting shot, Shadow turned to dust in Sonic's arms... Then Sonic lost it. Amy says his fur turned black, and he absorbed two Chaos Emeralds. Then he tried to attack Eggman, who got away."

"And then when she talked to him he was all about getting revenge for Shadow," Rouge picks up the story. "He Chaos Controlled away, and she came here."

"Our current theory is that Sonic the Hedgehog has unknowingly unleashed a collected torrent of Negative Chaos Energy due to his anger," Omega supplies. "Analysis of samples taken from his last known location has revealed that said energies are consuming him."

Tails sighs, "And we have to stop him before..."

Silver, and Blaze share a nod, "Alright, we'll help. We know that he'll be at the Station Square Piers at Three AM tomorrow morning. We need to be waiting there for him, so it would be a good idea to get some rest first.

The others share a glance before nodding. Cream casts a sorrowful look up the stairs where Amy sleeps fitfully.

…

Sonic appears with the Chaotix outside their office. Vector walks up to the front door, pulling out a key. Something makes him pause, and he bends to examine the lock. He turns, giving the others a thumbs-down. Espio fades from sight immediately, and Charmy pulls what looks like a can of pepper-spray from a vest pocket. Vector cracks his knuckles, and slowly pushes the door open.

He stands off to the side, waiting for a few minutes. Then Espio reappears in the doorway, "All clear."

Sonic blinks, "What was that all about?"

"Someone's been in our office," Charmy explains. Sonic's eyes narrow, they're catching up faster than he'd expected.

Espio turns to Vector, "It looks as if nothing was taken, but we will need to see the track to be sure.

_Tracks?_

Charmy puts away the pepper-spray, and tosses Espio a small squirt bottle. Espio sprays the bottle over the floor, and then yellow footprint become visible.

"Hmm... These look familiar, Vector."

Vector looks at them over Espio's shoulder, "Yeah, looks like Omega... Knuckles... Tails... and I'm guessing the one in heels is Rouge. With Omega around that should be a safe bet."

Sonic raises his eyebrows, "You know their footprints?"

Charmy nods, "We figured it would come in handy later, so we memorized everybody's shoe-prints when we got the chance."

Espio keeps squirting, revealing the trails their visitors left in their wake. "It looks like they were looking for you, Sonic. I can't imagine why else they would come here... and it looks like they took my fake bait," he nods at the hole in the map where his knife used to be.

Sonic scratches his ear, "Why... would you leave a fake trail?"

"Tax collectors," they say in unison. Sonic nods, understanding perfectly.

"Alright, Michael said that someone has been skimming his shipments, and I'm pretty sure it's Eggman." Sonic turns to the map, "He said that his next shipment is going to be at Warehouse Eight at the Station Square Pier."

"You think he's gonna show?" Vector looks a bit skeptical.

"I shook him up pretty bad last time I saw him," Sonic replies. "If I know Eggman, then he'll be working on some new toy to deal with me."

"Meaning he'll be wanting more materials," Espio finishes.

Sonic nods, "Lots of them. Not much we can do now except wait till the shipment."

The others nod, and try to find way to pass the time. Charmy starts playing a video-game in the next room while Espio meditates in a corner. Vector sits back at his desk, and start examining paperwork. Occasionally he glances at Sonic.

Not that he doesn't approve of the speedster's new-found determination, but something about it feel off somehow. Vector doesn't know why, Private Eye's instinct maybe, but for some reason... He's worried about Sonic.

…

The docks are quiet, the loudest noise being the occasional horn blow by a ship. On the shore men, and Mobians work to move cargo back and forth. A heavy metal crate is loaded onto a truck, and moved into warehouse number eight. Workers bustle to and fro, making sure the work inside goes unknown.

Smaller wooden crates are removed from the metal ones, and pried open. Inside are organized circuit boards, chips, and wires that they believe are destined for illegal trade. They're more, or less right.

Metal bangs as small object puncture the sides of the warehouse. Cans spewing smoke roll across the ground, causing them all to start coughing. Within minutes they are all unconscious.

A blowtorch carves a doorway in the side of the building, and several Egg-Pawns waddle their way through. The smoke is almost completely gone now as they star carting away the materials.

Suddenly a black blur starts knocking the heads of the robots too fast for them to even register that they're offline. Vector starts punching, and chomping bots with a furry not unlike Sonic's own Espio appears, and throws knives with deadly precision. Charmy flies over their heads wielding a baseball bat, and giving a comical battle cry.

The robots are more, or less scrap in a few minutes. Sonic looks over the wreckage with a scowl.

"Not that that wasn't fun Sonic," Vector rolls his neck. "But I don't see Eggman anywhere."

"Coward's too chicken to show up himself," Sonic growls, and balls his fists at his sides.

"The insult to chickens everywhere aside," Espio retrieves his knives. "What have we accomplished here today?"

Sonic thinks for a moment, "He'll probably become more desperate. This will stop him from acting with anything threatening, right?"

"Can't be sure," Vector shrugs. "We have no idea how much materials he has stocked up."

"Sonic!"

Sonic turns at the familiar voice calling his name. Standing there is Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Omega, Blaze, and Silver. How they found him he has no idea, but they couldn't have picked a worse time.

"Sonic," Tails calls again, jogging forward. "Thank Chaos we found you! Listen, you-"

Sonic cuts him off, "Just what are you all doing here?!"

The anger in Sonic's voice is so alien that Tails takes a step back, "We... we came to help you."

"Tails, I can't afford to let anyone else help me. Shadow tried to help me, and look at him now!"

"What about us?" Charmy looks confused.

Sonic looks at him from over his shoulder, "If Eggman had been here I wouldn't have let you three join the fight. It was just a bunch of Egg-Pawns, so there was no danger."

Knuckles cracks his fists, "Stop treating us like kids, Sonic! How many times have all of us fought beside you, and suddenly you think we can't take care of ourselves?!"

Sonic's eyes darken as he glares at the Echidna, "I thought Shadow more than anyone could take care of himself, Knuckles. He used to sweep the floor with you, and you think I'm going to let you be next in line for the morgue?!"

Rouge steps forward, "Sonic, even with that aside, all this take about getting revenge... It's just not right."

Sonic's irises become black, "An eye for an eye, Rouge."

Omega says, "A human named Gandhi once said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind". Sonic the Hedgehog, you must cease, and desist."

Flecks of crimson appear in his eyes, "He's going to be more than blind once I'm through with him!"

The Chaotix glance at each other nervously. They had assumed that Sonic was going to finally put Eggman in jail... not kill him. Blaze step forward, "Sonic, we can't let you do this."

A cruel grin touches his lips, "**You have no choice.**"

He dashes forward, striking at Blaze with a series of blows she can just barely block. She gathers fire in her hands to ward him off, but he rolls into a quick Spin-Dash before she even knows what's happened. Blaze is sent flying across the room, slumping unconscious against the far wall.

A greenish aura surrounds Sonic, lifting him from the ground. His eyes flicker to Silver, who stares back with rage in his gaze. Sonic grins with a snap of his fingers, and a bolt of black smoke flies at Silver. Startled, Silver loses his concentration as the smoke binds him. Sonic chuckles, and picks Silver up by his quills.

"**Do you remember that phrase, "I'll sweep the floor with you"?**" Sonic growls in his ear, "**I finally get it now.**"

Sonic grabs Silver by the ankles, and presses his face to the floor so hard it should be gouging the concrete. With his face a bloody mess, Sonic sends him across the room next to Blaze.

Knuckles takes a swing at Sonic which he easily duck under. He retaliates with an uppercut to the jaw, and Knuckles land limply beside Tails.

Gunshots ring out, and Sonic staggers back as Omega puts round after round in his body. "Forgive me," the robot intones before a pair of Mini-Guns replace his hands. He unloads hundreds of bullets into Sonic who does not fall. The tinkling of metal sounds as the bullets fall away from an unscathed Sonic.

His gaze is flat as he looks up at Omega, "**You were a good friend to Shadow...**" Sonic backhands a pair of Chaos Spears at Omega, destroying his arms at the shoulders.

Rouge lets loose a battle-cry as she drives a roundhouse kick into Sonic's face. She grits her teeth as she crumples to the ground, holding her ankle.

Sonic raises an eyebrow, "**That was a bad idea.**"

"No kidding- ugh!"

Sonic ignores her, instead turning his eyes to Tails.

The fox has tears in his wide eyes. Sonic, his hero, his best friend, his _brother_, just attacked all his friends without even batting an eye. Amy was right... they're losing him.

Tails flinches as Sonic starts walking towards him. The young fox puts up his fists in a sign of desperation. As Sonic closes in Tails squeezes his eyes shut, unable to even try to hurt his first loyal friend in life.

He feels something on his head. A hand... Ruffling his hair?

Tails opens his eyes to see Sonic's familiar green eyes looking into his own blue ones.

"Don't look at me like that, buddy," Sonic looks at his beaten friends from over his shoulder. "They never would have let me go without a fight, didn't have a choice."

Tails blinks, relieved that Sonic won't hurt him, but still afraid. "Sonic... I found samples of your quills when we were at the Chaotix's office. If you don't stop now then you'll never be the same!"

Sonic takes his hand away from Tails, and looks him in the eye, "It's too late for that, Tails. I've already changed."

Sonic turns away, but Tails jumps in front of him, "That's not what I meant Sonic! If you keep going like this then the Dark energies will consume you!"

Sonic looks at him in confusion, and then something else demands his attention. A small grin comes over his features, and he raises his hands. Silver's limp form rolls over a little as a light-blue Chaos Emerald flies from his quills.

"Error! Error!" Omega jerks as a green Chaos Emerald flies from the containment unit in his torso. Both jewels fly into Sonic's hands, and he absorbs them both with black smoke.

Tails watches in horror as Sonic's eyes take on a much deeper shade of green, and his fur turns pure black like Shadow's used to be instead of the dark blue a moment before.

"**That makes four...**" Sonic clenches his fists in front of his face, and then looks off to the west.

"**Well that's convenient!**" Sonic looks at Tails with a grin, "**Catch you later, buddy!**"

Tails stares dumbfounded as his big brother disappears with a whoosh of wind. He sees now why Amy is so broken up.

**A special thanks to all those who have faithfully followed this story thus far, a few of you have been asking for this!**


	5. Chapter 5

**_Chapter Five_**

Eggman is pacing in his laboratory, hands folded behind his back.

"Those hunks of junk should have reported in by now! It's just a routine snatch, I fail to see how anything could have gone wrong!"

Yes, sadly with no one but machines to talk to Eggman developed a habit of talking to himself.

"Bah! It doesn't matter, I can make do with the parts I have on hand. Sonic lucked out with Missle-Wrist mk2, but my latest invention will surely do the trick!"

He rubs his hands together, laughing manically. "It's ingenious! Usually my machines have simply lacked the proper amount of _power_ to get the job done… but with not one, but _three_ Chaos Emeralds to power it there's no way I can fail!"

(**AN:** Raise your hand if you can see where this is going. -_-'…)

Eggman goes back to his blueprints, checking for the umpteenth time for weaknesses in the armor, and weapons systems. Finding none he nods to himself, now all he needs are those components to-

The thought is cut off as the sound of metal footsteps comes running up to him.  
"Master," and Eggpawn reports. "We've lost contact with our most recent retrieval team."

Eggman's breath hitches, "Then… Quick, bring up the last of the footage they recorded!"

On the screen comes video feed from one of the fallen robots. Suddenly it becomes snow.

"Rewind, and freeze it at the last possible second!"

The computer complies, and there on the screen is an image that has Eggman backtracking. Sonic with black fur, and those terrible demonic eyes charging at the screen.

Eggman panics, "We have to move the project along! Install the new laser into the main cannon, and make it snappy!"

The Eggpawn nods, and waddles off.

…

Sonic stands about a mile away from the base, and smirks. He can feel the last three emeralds inside the base.

"Couldn't make it any easier if he just handed them to me himself," Sonic laughs as he crosses his arms. The sun is rising behind him, and casts his shadow in the direction of the base. Sonic looks down at it, and his smile fades.

"No worries buddy, I'm holding to my promise." He glares at the base, "Come nightfall Eggman won't ever hurt anyone else…"

…

After a lot of pain, and effort Tails has helped the others get back to his house. He puts himself to work fixing Omega's arms while the Chaotix help patch up the others.

Silver has lost about half the quills on his forehead, and has a black eye to boot. Blaze has several cuts on her front from Sonic's quills. Rouge has a make-shift brace on her ankle, and Knuckles helps her walk while holding an ice pack to his chin.

Cream helps as best she can, but there's only so much a six year old rabbit _can_ do. She can't mend their broken spirits for one, no matter how hard she tries.

Silver sighs, "Somehow I feel like someone is gonna get slapped for me saying this, but right now… it's no use. Sonic's too powerful, and too determined to be stopped."

Rouge nods, "He's acting like Shadow when he was in one of those moods. I'll bet only one person could get through to him."

Knuckles looks at her, "Who?" A shrug is Rouge's only reply.

Cream clears her throat, "What about Amy?"

Blaze frowns, "If she tries, and it doesn't work it will destroy her on the inside."

Tails clenches his fists, and sets down his blowtorch. "We can't just give up though, imagine what the Sonic we know would say if he knew we were even _thinking_ about quitting!"

One by one the others nod. Sonic has always been the hero to them, and saved them on more than one occasion. Now it's time to return the favor.

"Are you sure using Amy will work," Silver asks Cream.

Cream shakes her head, "Not really… but I have hope."

Tails nods, and heads up the stairs to the room where Amy has isolated herself.

He finds her sitting on the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest.

She looks over as the door opens, "Oh, hey Tails."

He sits on the edge of the bed, "Amy… We're going after Sonic again, and we need your help."

Amy folds her ears back against her head, and presses her forehead to her knees. "…Tails-"

He doesn't let her finish, instead he takes her hand, and pulls her downstairs. Her eyes widen at the sight of how beaten up everybody looks.

"We saw what happened to him," Tails says firmly. "And if we do nothing then it will only get worse. We need you to help us, we think you might be the only person who could get through to him."

Amy presses a fist to her chest, "How do you know that?"

"After Sonic took them down he still treated me like his little brother. He's still in there Amy, but he won't be for much longer."

She looks around at the group, "…I…"

"Amy, do you really believe that _Sonic_ would hurt _you_?"

Amy goes very still. Then she balls her hands, and shakes her head fiercely.

"Of course not! Sonic is a hero, and he doesn't do things like that! Whatever did this to all of you WAS NOT SONIC!"

"And she's back," Rouge smirks.

Omega speaks up, "I have been cross-referencing base Eggman base locations with the direction Sonic indicated at the warehouse. I believe I know where he is going."

…

The sun is beginning to set on the horizon. Eggpawns, and other robots patrol the base in vain hopes of keeping the expected intruder away.

Suddenly the gates to the base explode, and flames scatter across the entire front of the base. Among them walks a Sonic, once again in his Dark form. A few flying robots shaped like bees try to blast him from above, but it does no good. Sonic raises a hand, and slowly makes a fist. All the Buzz Bombers are crushed by shadows, and a rapid series of explosions light the sky like fireworks.

Sonic could have just teleported inside the base, but that would defeat the purpose. He wants Eggman afraid, so afraid he might actually try to kill himself before Sonic gets his hands on his fatty neck.

Shadows rip the inner gates open as Sonic approaches. Swatbots, Eggpawns, and other robots run towards him in hopes of taking him down, but a flurry of Chaos Spears mows them down.

Sonic spots a security camera, and jumps up to it. He smiles wickedly into the lens before ripping the camera from the wall.

Eggman is sweating bullets, Sonic just destroyed almost half of his available forces!

He wipes his forehead as he types frantically at the terminal in front of him. "Damn, I should have a few left…"

Sonic stumbles when something hits him from behind. He turns to see Metal Sonic glaring at him. Sonic smirks as he faces the robot, "**Bad move bro, it's not you I'm after.**"

"My programming forces me to face you, Sonic the Hedgehog, prepare for termination."

Sonic chuckles, "**You couldn't even beat me when I was blue, and now…**"

Sonic vanishes from sight, and metal Sonic puts up his Black Shield… a half second too late. The shield fades as Sonic stands there with his fist in Metal Sonic's head. His ear twitches, and he turns to see the rest of Eggman's "Elite" robots. With a snicker Sonic flies at them.

Mecha Sonic goes into a Spin Dash which Sonic grabs, and rips apart.

Metal Knuckles fires rockets at Sonic who grabs one, and slams it down on the robot's head.

The floating robot E-101 Beta mk2 sends a seires of rockets after Sonic, and fires balls of energy from his hands. Sonic throws a Chaos Spear which Beta backhands away. Big mistake, this just opens him up for an attack. Sonic rips right through the machine, and it explodes a second later.

"**Now that the fun's over, where the hell are you Eggman?**"

Sonic runs through the halls of the base until he comes to a door that's quite promising. He punches right through it, a snarl on his lips.

Eggman looks much calmer now, "You know Sonic, you could have just knocked."

"**I did… There's no escape this time Eggman. I've already let you escape too many times. If I had just dealt with you when we first met-**"

"Then there would be no reason for your little vendetta," Eggman interrupts. "Yes, I'm aware. Now then, are you prepared to do what you came here to do?"

Sonic takes a running stance, "**Shut up, and fight me you coward!**"

Sonic launches in a Homing Attack straight for Eggman.

**BAM!**

Sonic is sent back, and skids to a stop on his feet. He glares murderously at his perpetrator, and freezes.

Standing there, with an AK-47 pointed right at him, is none other than…

"**…Shadow?**"

The Ultimate Lifeform pulls the trigger.

** (How's ****_that_**** for my first cliffhanger? Please Review!)**


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter Six_**

Sonic raises a hand to shield his eyes from the spray of bullets. His demonic eyes squint through his fingers as Shadow barrels into him. Sonic is blasted into a wall, leaving a Sonic shaped dent in it.

In his hovercraft Eggman watches with a huge smile, "Not hot stuff now, huh Sonic? We all know you were never a match for the Ultimate Lifeform, you were just lucky."

Shadow tosses the gun aside, and crouches to attack. Sonic bolts to the side as Shadow charges. Twin black blurs dash around the room. Shadow backhands Chaos Spears at Sonic in some cruel mockery of their earlier race.

In a flash of light Shadow appears in front of Sonic, and the former hero of Mobius has to hit the brakes hard to shoot in the other direction. Shadow's fingertips glow blue, and a volley of Chaos Arrows fly at Sonic. Weaker, but faster than Chaos Spears, Sonic feels like thousands of fists are hitting him in rapid succession as he's forced against a wall. Eventually the assault fades, and the chase begins again

_Something is wrong,_ Sonic thinks to himself. _Shadow would never side with Eggman after the ARK, and _especially _after he killed him!_

The memory of Shadow turning to dust is still fresh in his mind. How the hell could Shadow have come back from _that?!_

Sonic feels something jostle in his quills, and he snarls. The answer is clear now… _he didn't._

Sonic whirls, and the room is filled with a shockwave. Eggman stares in horror as Sonic stand with his hand plunged through Shadow's chest. Blood dribbles down Sonic's arm, and onto the floor as he watches the life fade from Shadow's eyes. Shadow mouths Sonic's name as he drops lifeless to the floor.

The doctor pales as Sonic turns black, and red eyes on him. "S-sonic… W-why…?"

Sonic reaches into his quills, and pulls out the Inhibitor Ring he'd kept from Shadow. The doctor realizes his mistake, the clone had no Inhibitor Rings.

"**Now Eggman… ****_PREPARE TO DIE!_**"

Sonic flashes through the Eggmobile… and nothing happens.

Eggman laughs, "You didn't think I'd face you just _yet_ did you? I just needed that clone, and this hologram to buy me some time."

Sonic narrows his eyes, "Time for-?"

Explosions rock the base, and one erupts right under Sonic.

From above in the newly restored Egg Carrier, Eggman laces his fingers over his belly with a smirk.

"And that's that," Eggman chortles. "Finally, _both_ of those annoying rodents are out of my hair! Now I can focus my efforts on utilizing my newest weapon to…"

He trails off as the scanners go off. On the view screen in front of him is footage of the destroyed base. Among the wreckage is a black spot. He zooms in, and goes white as a sheet.

There stands Sonic, alive, Dark, and very… _very… VERY _pissed off.

Eggman actually jumps back as those terrible eyes meet his own from the screen. He starts breathing hard, "No… NO! All weapons to full power! Initiate project –!"

The Egg Carrier groans as something slams into the side of it, and makes it tilt to the side for a tedious few seconds. Sonic floats in front of the Egg Carier, and his voice carries easily over the entire ship.

"**You can't escape Death, Eggman, and you sure as hell can't escape ME!**"

Eggman slams a button down on the terminal in front of him, "If you want to get serious _rodent_, then allow me to show you my latest creation! Initiate Project Titan!"

The ship whirs as it begins to take a new form. The main cannon on the front is exposed as the ships Bridge is positioned right above it. The nose of the ship splits in to, and goes to the side, and two thirds fold downwards. The ship seems to fold in half as from the reactor back splits into two, and rotates with joints resembling legs. The former nose of the ship now forms a pair of fully functional arms, and the Bridge morphs into a head with the main cannon as the chest.

"Sonic, say hello to the Egg Titan!"

_Someone has been hitting the Transformer movies pretty hard,_ some part of Sonic thinks.

With a speed that catches Sonic off guard, the giant robot punches Sonic into the ground. Sonic is sent through trees, making a trench, and making a crater in the side of a mountain. He snarls as he shoots back into the air.

_Faster than usual_, he notes. _Still, I've crashed the Egg Carrier before. I know its weak spots._

Sonic flies right for the cannon in the chest, but is met with a force field than sends him into the ground with a bolt of lightning. While it doesn't do anything to harm Sonic it still sends a clear message.

_How am I supposed to beat this thing if I can't touch it?!_

Sonic tries firing Chaos Spears at it, but they just explode against the force field. Eggman finds this amusing to now end, and fires fireballs at Sonic through cannons located all over the Egg Titan's body. These are easy enough to evade, but then the cannon Sonic had been aiming for fires a powerful beam at him. This Sonic just barely manages to evade.

"Give it up hedgehog, you cannot defeat this!"

Sonic growls, "**NEVER!**"

Then an idea comes to his mind, and a cruel smile to his lips. Sonic flies right at the robot while Eggman laughs. Energy swirls around Sonic, forming a casing around his entire body.

"**Chaos…****_BLAST!_**"

The conflicting fields of energy collide, both refusing to relent. Suddenly a hole is blown wide open in Eggman's field, and seizing this opportunity Sonic barrels into the cannon with a Homing Attack.

That's when Sonic can feel them again, the last three Chaos Emeralds!

Then Eggman's field reforms, and Sonic is forced outside of it again.

Eggman isn't feeling quite so confident now, but he doesn't let it show. "A clever tactic Sonic, but just how many of those can you pull off?"

"**As many as I need to!**"

Sonic dodges another blast from the main cannon, and flies at the robot.

"**Chaos BLAST!**"

This time Sonic fires a dozen Chaos Spears into the cannon before the field forces him away again. The robot is beginning to smoke, and Eggman decides not to take any more chances. The wings of the Egg Carrier unfold from the monolithic machine, and with the thrusters on the bottoms of the Egg Titan's feet he takes to the sky.

Sonic snarls, and gives chase. The electric fields surrounding the Egg Titan electrify the clouds, forcing Sonic to dodge lightning bolts so he can get close to his target. Eggman makes the mistake of flying over the clouds, and Sonic comes into position.

"**_CHAOS BLAST!_**"

This time as the field is blown wide open Sonic spins in midair. Spears of black energy form in the air around him, and are absorbed into the dark hedgehog.

"**Ready… GO!**"

Just as the field begins to close, Sonic hits the cannon with a Lightspeed Attack, a black trail of leftover energy in his wake.

Eggman struggles to get his machine back under control as the destruction of the main cannon sets of a chain of explosions to the main reactor. With no power the Egg Titan begins to fall back towards the surface. Eggman braces for impact…

"…Oh…"

Eggman groans as he sits up in what remains of his once beloved ship. He presses a hand to his forehead, and it comes away red.

"…I've got to get out of here."

"**Oh it's way too late for that.**"

Eggman freezes, and then slowly turns to see Sonic in an opening in his ship's hull. In his arms are the remaining three Chaos Emeralds, and Sonic smirks as they are absorbed into his body.

Sonic lets out a fearsome cry as the wind around them picks up, and rips what little of the ship was left apart. A dark aura like black fire surrounds Sonic as he becomes Dark Super Sonic.

Eggman whimpers as the demon approaches. "S-stay back!"

Eggman pulls a gun from his hip, and aims it at Sonic. The red flecks in his black irises seem to glow faintly as Sonic smiles.

The end of the pistol glows amber, and suddenly Sonic realizes what it is. The beam flies at him, and he doesn't dodge.

"Ha! I win you pathetic rodent, you're about to-!"

Eggman sputters to a stop when he sees Sonic is holding a ball of amber energy in his hands. The doctor starts to crawl backwards, tears leaking from his eyes.

"S-sonic, please!"

Sonic raises the energy in one hand, and Eggman presses the barrel of the gun to his own head. He howls in pain as Sonic destroys the both the gun, and the hand holding it with a Chaos Spear.

"**Ah-ah-ah Eggman,**" Sonic taunts, and moves to step towards him.

**(Sorry for the short chappie, but I figured this would make up for the cliffhanger last chapter. So now we've reached the moment of truth. Will Sonic kill Eggman, or will they both be saved? ...I really don't know right now, what do you think?)**


	7. Chapter 7 (Dark Ending)

_**Chapter Seven**_

**(Dark Version)**

Eggman tries to scoot away with only one hand, "S-sonic please! This isn't necessary!"

"**It's no less than you deserve,**" Sonic rears back his hand.

"Sonic NO!"

Seemingly out of nowhere Amy jumps in between the two of them. Sonic steps back in surprise, and the rest of his friends form a ring around the scene. He narrows his eyes before turning his attention back to Amy.

"**Get out of my way.**"

"No! Sonic, you can't do this, it isn't you!" Amy looks him right in the demonic eyes, "It's the Dark Energy Sonic, it's messing with the way you think!"

"**HE KILLED SHADOW!**"

"I think Shadow would have wanted to die protecting somebody he cared about," Amy says firmly. "We all knew it, even if he never admitted it. Shadow cared about all of us Sonic, and every person on this planet."

Blaze speaks up, "If you kill him then you won't stop there Sonic. With someone of your power it will never be over until there's nothing left!"

"You have to fight it," Silver agrees.

"You're supposed to be a hero," Vector says.

"You can't give in to hate," Espio says.

"Please Sonic," Charmy begs.

Tails puts a hand on his shoulder, "Sonic…"

Amy takes his wrist that holds the energy, and places it in front of her chest, "If you do it then you won't be the Sonic I love anymore… I can't live in a world like that."

Sonic stares at his hand, and then up at her.

"…**Fine.**"

(BGM: "Sick of it", Skillet)

The energy blasts clean through Amy, and into Eggman. All their eyes widen in horror as the blast hits Eggman full in the face. The doctor howls in pain as he can feel himself dying.

Amy slowly raises a hand to her chest, and looks at her hand as it comes away red. The blood becomes dust, and she stares up at Sonic. The infection spreads, and she starts to become dust as well

"…Son…ic…"

Tears fall from her eyes as she collapses to the ground, and in seconds all that's left of her, and Eggman are their clothes.

Tails is trembling as he stares at his big brother, "…Sonic?"

He backs up fast when Sonic's head snaps towards him. Sonic's eyes are completely black save for a glowing red dot in the center of each. Sonic growls, a sound reminiscent of a lion, and grabs Tails by the throat. Before anyone can do anything to stop him Sonic crushes the fox's neck in his grip.

Sonic turns in a slow circle, eyeing them all like one might an all-you-can-eat buffet.

Omega raises his guns, but Sonic is on him with a sound like a jaguar. In mere seconds he's nothing but scrap. Without even pausing he pounces on Knuckles, and with a loud CRACK he twists his head backwards. Rouge screams as Sonic grabs her, and rips her wings off.

Blaze tries to engulf him in fire, but Sonic just smiles at her. Blaze gasps when she sees that his teeth have all become sharp, like a shark's. He charges through the flames, and Silver jumps between them. He tries to grab Sonic with his powers, but his Dark aura won't let him. Sonic rips both their hearts out before they even have time to scream, or beg for mercy.

The Chaotix turn to run, but it's futile. Sonic Spin-Dashes right through Vector, and nails the last two with Chaos Spears.

Sonic sniffs the air, like there's something he's looking for. From behind a tree Cream shivers as she stares around the wood at Sonic. Sonic slowly turns in her direction.

A groan from Rouge snaps his attention back to her. He lets out a low his, and she pales. She screams as Sonic jumps on her, and starts ripping her open. Cream feels ill as the blood, and guts literally go flying. Sonic rears back his head, and lets out a bone chilling shriek before taking off into the sky.

Cream whimpers as she comes from her hiding place, Cheese held firmly in her arms. Tears spill from her eyes as she looks over the ruined remains of her friends. She turns, and dashes away through the woods, sobbing the whole way.

…

At GUN headquarters Commander Towers is at a complete loss. Fifty cities in not even an eighth of as many days have been reduced to nothing. Satellite imagery has only shown a mysterious black hedgehog using completely overwhelming powers to do so.

Towers looks over the footage again for the umpteenth time, hoping to find some kind of weakness. Hundreds of GUN troops were deployed to face this threat, but the black hedgehog was too fast to appear for more then a few seconds of video. Beams of energy utterly shredded the soldiers, and waves of it destroyed their heavy artillery.

Analysis of these two phenomenons confirmed Towers' fears as Chaos Spears, and Chaos Blasts. The only person on their records of being capable of such feats is Shadow, but he was confirmed to be dead days ago.

Suddenly the alarms go off.

"Proximity warning! Black hedgehog en route to attack!"

Towers barely has time to register this before an explosion rocks the base. He stumbles, and then gets back to his feet. Then the power goes out, the emergency generators kicking in a moment later. Though he knows it's futile he draws his sidearm, and checks to make sure it's loaded.

The metal door to the Control Room dents inward, and then a hole is punched through it. A gloved hand pulls the door open. Through it steps a black Sonic with his quills up in the shape of a Super Form. An aura of black energy rolls off of him like fire. Those horrible eyes turn up to stare at Towers, blood dripping like tears.

Towers raises his gun, "For the free people of this planet!"

He pulls the trigger as Sonic lunges.

…

For how long she ran she has no clue, all she knows is that she has to get away. Cream runs, and runs, and runs some more to escape the nightmare that was born in front of her. Thorns scratch her, but she keeps running. Roots trip her, but she keeps running. Sometimes she thinks she can hear frightful things chasing her in the dead of night, but this just makes her run all the harder.

A stone makes her fall on her face, and Cheese is sent flying. The Chao catches himself in midair, and flies back to her as she gets to her knees. She wipes at the tears, "Dead... they're really all dead... someone... anyone... _please help us!_"

Cream gets the sudden impression that she's being watched. Slowly she looks up.

She has no idea how she ended up here, but she's kneeling at the bottom of the steps leading to the dais where the Master Emerald sits.

"How...How did I get on Angel Island?"

A strange sensation comes over her, and she goes up the steps to the massive gem. She remembers Knuckles saying how powerful the Master Emerald is, and its link to the Chaos Emeralds.

She blinks when she thinks she sees something inside the Master Emerald... No, not something... some_one._

Cream slowly presses one hand to the Master Emerald, and then to her surprise, as if through a window, another figure does the same from inside the jewel. An Echidna woman in tribal garb, a tiara, and bandages on her quills. The new woman smiles gently at Cream.

Cream sniffles, "Can you help us?"

The woman nods, and Cream can hear her in her head.

_Yes young rabbit, I can. I am Tikal, princess of a once proud Echidna empire. I sense great darkness in the world, tainting even a soul as innocent as yours._

Cream shivers, "Please, I'll do anything... Just save everyone!"

_So it shall be..._

A horribly familiar shriek makes Cream's fur stand on end. She looks over her shoulder, and screams.

In the sky, silhouetted against the light of the rising sun, is Sonic. His inmobian eyes stare right into hers. She sees him rear back before charging for her, and she squeezes her eyes shut.

But the pain doesn't come. The Master Emerald feels warm under her hand, and she cracks her eye open.

Sonic stands on the ground below the dais, snarling. Between Cream, and the fallen hero of Mobius is a creature she has never seen before. It's made almost entirely of water, save for the brain, and two glowing green eyes.

_This is Chaos, Cream. God of Destruction, and Guardian of the truly innocent._

Sonic lunges at Chaos, but the dark hedgehog can't grab anything to rip apart. Chaos backhands Sonic into a stone pillar, and then leaps high into the air. Sonic lashes out with a punch, but with a flash of light Sonic is sent into the ground making a trench. The black aura around him decreases in intensity as he sees Chaos no four time his usual size with wide shoulders, and what appears to be some strange skeleton in his arms now. Two of the Chaos Emeralds are set in his hands.

Sonic hisses as Chaos becomes a large ball of water, and flies at Sonic. Sonic dodges to the side, and tries to Spin-Dash the ancient creature. It sends Chaos bouncing back, but Sonic growls in frustration when it does no damage.

Chaos's arm stretches out, and bashes into Sonic, making him yowl in pain. Chaos grabs Sonic, and pulls him into himself. Sonic struggles to get out, but it's useless. Cream watches in facination as one by one the remaining Chaos Emeralds are pulled out of Sonic, and absorbed into Chaos.

The water creature is absorbed into the ground, leaving the once again blue Sonic behind. Cream takes a step towards him.

_No Cream!_

Cream freezes, and Sonic stares up at her. The whites of his eyes are still black with only red dots in the center. Blood pours like tears from those terrible orbs as he bares sharp teeth at her.

Suddenly the island shudders, and they both stumble. From the sea below a massive pillar of water erupts upwards, and morphs into Perfect Chaos. Chaos wraps the island in his watery tentecales, and pulls it down to sea level with a great cry.

Sonic snarls at Chaos, and his quills stand on end. Chaos grabs Sonic with one of his tentacles, and tosses him high into the air. Sonic lets out the same shriek from before as Chaos opens his massive jaws, and chomps down on Sonic.

Cream gasps, and Chaos releases the island. As it rises into the sky again Chaos sinks into the ocean.

Cream turns to Tikal, "Is he...is Mr. Sonic...?"

_No, and Yes Cream. That creature is no longer Sonic the Hedgehog. He used the Dark powers of our universe too greatly, and gave into the blackest emotion of all... Murder. The Sonic you know is indeed dead, but that shell of Death he left behind will live on. _

Tikal leans in closer to Cream, _At his full power Chaos can defeat him, but he will not be able to contain him indefinitely. Cream... There is something I must ask of you..._

**Fifty Years Later**

Cream the Rabbit walks the cobbled path that leads to the shrine of the Master Emerald. Over the years she has matured into a beautiful woman, and then into a sweet elder rabbit. Cheese sits on her head sporting big white bushy eyebrows, and a mustache.

"Chao," he croaks in a bassy voice.

"I know Cheese... It's almost time..."

She climbs the steps to find a familiar figure kneeling in front of the Master Emerald with a quiet chant. It's an Echidna, a woman wearing black clothes. Rings giving off a faint purple light encircle her wrists, and ankles. A rune glows lightly on a headband on her forehead.

After a minute the echidna stands, and turns to Cream. Cream smiles, "Hello Shade."

Shade nods with a smile, "Hello Mother... Tikal says it's almost time."

Cream nods, and bends over to hug Shade, "My little girl... It's been twenty wonderful years since Tikal guided me to you. Oh my dear... I'm sorry this has to be your fate."

Shade kisses her cheek, "I wouldn't have it any other way, this is an honor to my people. You should head to the shelter, just in case..."

Cream nods, "Be careful Shade."

Shade nods, and follows her surrogate mother down the steps. They part ways, and Shade walks to the edge of the island. She narrows her eyes at the waves bellow.

A small point in the water begins to bubble, and Sonic bursts from the waves with a terrible cry.

Shade cracks her knuckles. Purple light shines off her fur, and black armor covers what's left exposed of her body, that being her head. Her eyes glow a bright purple light, and twin daggers of the same energy form in her hands. With a breath she leaps from the edge of the island, diving right for the monster that used to be Sonic.

With war cries the two collide in midair to begin a cycle to last generations.

**End**

**Author's Notes:**

**Well that's ****_one _****way things could have ended. I'll be typing up a Light ending for this stoary as well, I just figured I'd post this one since it's all the bloodshed you all were asking for. I should have it up in a week or two.**

**May the Stars watch over you!**


	8. Chapter 7 (Light Ending)

**_Chapter Seven_**

**(Light Ending)**

Eggman tries to scoot away with only one hand, "S-sonic please! This isn't necessary!"

"**It's no less than you deserve,**" Sonic rears back his hand.

"Sonic NO!"

Seemingly out of nowhere Amy jumps in between the two of them. Sonic steps back in surprise, and the rest of his friends form a ring around the scene. He narrows his eyes before turning his attention back to Amy.

"**Get out of my way.**"

"No! Sonic, you can't do this, it isn't you!" Amy looks him right in the demonic eyes, "It's the Dark Energy Sonic, it's messing with the way you think!"

"**HE KILLED SHADOW!**"

"I think Shadow would have wanted to die protecting somebody he cared about," Amy says firmly. "We all knew it, even if he never admitted it. Shadow cared about all of us Sonic, and every person on this planet."

Blaze speaks up, "If you kill him then you won't stop there Sonic. With someone of your power it will never be over until there's nothing left!"

"You have to fight it," Silver agrees.

"You're supposed to be a hero," Vector says.

"You can't give in to hate," Espio says.

"Please Sonic," Charmy begs.

Tails puts a hand on his shoulder, "Sonic…"

Amy takes his wrist that holds the energy, and places it in front of her chest, "If you do it then you won't be the Sonic I love anymore… I can't live in a world like that."

Sonic stares at his hand, and then up at her.

"**…No...**"

Sonic jerks his hand away from Amy, and the ball of energy is sent flying. Knuckles has to force Rouge down to avoid being hit.

Sonic clutches his head, "**No...No! NNNOOOOOOO**OOOOOOooooooooo!"

A shockwave sends them all flying as black energy is forced from Sonic. Amy watches in wonder as tendrils of black shoot out of Sonic, and into the sky. Black fur becomes blue, and evil eyes become that wonderful emerald green again. Scattered about him are the seven Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic drops to his knees, breathing hard. He looks up to Amy, and smirks.

"...It's over..."

**"Is it really?"**

Sonic looks up to see the black energy coming together into a familiar shape. A black hedgehog emerges from the smoke. His quills stand like a Super form, and his eyes are completely white. Other than that he looks just like Sonic.

**"Thank you Sonic, without you having come at least this far I never would have had the power to create this form."**

Sonic stands, "Who are you?"

**"I have many names. The Dark One, Evil, Lucifer, Mephiles… At the moment I am called Dark Sonic, but for the rest of you short existence you may call me Dark."**

Sonic blinks, "Wait… You're the Devil?"

**"No, Mobians from long ago saw the Devil, and thought he was me," **Dark smirks. **"Again I thank you for your help, and pass my thanks on to Shadow when you see him."**

Sonic clenches his teeth as Dark raises a hand. Black energy collects into a ball which he rears back to throw.

Sonic raises a clenched fist.

**(BGM: "Never Gonna Die" by Skillet )**

The Chaos Emeralds flash, and twirl around Sonic. With a growl Sonic becomes Super Sonic. Dark hurls the orb of energy, and Sonic blasts it away with a Super Sonic Wind. Sonic barrels into Dark with a Homing Attack.

Dark catches the attack in his hands, and sends Sonic flying past him. Black Chaos Arrows fire from his fingers which Sonic dodges.

The others are staring, awed by the inward battle made external.

Sonic spins in place, making a tornado. Debris from the surrounding forest is sucked up into it. Knuckles, Omega, and Vector keep the others from being sucked up too.

Dark flies into the tornado, and starts punching Sonic. Sonic blocks most of them, but something catches his attention with each blow.

_He's getting stronger!_

Dark breaks Sonic's block, and grabs him by the throat. The aura around him intensifies, and Sonic's eyes widen.

**"Black Blast!"**

With a black version of Chaos Blast Super Sonic is sent into the ground, and the tornado is destroyed. Sonic can't believe it, _He's stronger than a Super Form?!_

Dark laughs, **"You're determination is admirable, but it's futile. Look at yourself!"**

Sonic looks down, and gasps at the sight of black energy pouring out of the bottoms of his shoes. He follows the trail to see Dark Absorbing it.

**"So you see it? Whenever you put together so much Light energy to make a Super Form your body collects Dark energy to balance the equation out… Energy I can take for myself because of our bond. Soon your Super Form will fade, and until then I will collect what energy I can."**

Sonic frowns, "What about you? How come you're not gathering Light like I am Dark?"

**"I am an entity of pure darkness, this is who I am! After you're form has faded I will destroy you, your friends, and then I will destroy this universe piece by piece!"**

Sonic bares his teeth, "Damn…"

Dark crosses his arms, **"Rest assured, it will be quick. However I cannot promise that it will be painless."**

Dark raises a hand over his head, and starts gathering Dark Energy. It collects into an orb which slowly grows in size.

Sonic is breathing heavily, he can feel the Super Form beginning to fade, and with an attack like that on the way he's not sure he would survive anyways. Even if he could somehow get to Silver in time to make them both go Super it wouldn't last long enough. It's been too long since either of them collected rings.

He gets off his back, but falls into a kneeling position. He clenches his fists in frustration, and squeezes his eyes shut.

"…I'm sorry everyone…I'm sorry Shadow…"

_Don't tell me that you're giving up already, Faker!_

**(BGM: "His World" by Zebrahead)**

Sonic's eyes shoot open, and he jerks his head up. In the shadows of night he thinks he can see something… some_one_ walking towards him. The form is transparent, like a ghost, and it looks oddly like…

"…Shadow?"

The spector of Shadow crosses his arms, _Sonic, if you don't save the world then who the hell will? You made me a promise, and I thought you were a man of your word._

Shadow balls his fists, and Sonic watches as his outline begins to glow. In a flash the spector takes the ghostly image of Super Shadow. He holds out his hand to Sonic with narrowed eyes.

_You know what to do… Now end this!_

Sonic looks down at the hand, and then back up at Shadow with a smile. He takes the hand, and feels the warmth.

A blast of white light makes Dark, and their others shield their eyes. The light becomes a beacon in the sky. When they look again they see Sonic with glowing white fur. No, not whit, but every color of the rainbow flashing in sequence almost too fast to pick out. He opens his eyes, and his irises are the same.

**"What is this?"**

Dark hurls the sphere at Sonic, but Sonic dashes right through it with a smile. Dark blinks, befuddled as Sonic hovers a few yards away.

**_"You really thought you could beat me,"_** Sonic says, his voice sounding like three of him speaking slightly out of synch. From below Rouge thinks she can hear a hint of Shadow's voice in the mix.

Dark crosses his arms, **"You're a bigger fool than I thought."** He flings out a hand with a smile. He frowns, and tries again. He looks down, and sees no Dark Energy coming out of Sonic's shoes.

**"How-?!"**

Sonic bashes into him, and the results are breathtaking. White, and black lightning jumps between the two of them making them both yell out in pain. With a sound like thunder they're blasted apart. Dark snarls while Sonic chuckles.

They fly at each other, and every time they touch the results are the same. The bystanders below cover their ears (except Omega) as they are bombarded by the sound waves.

Sonic gets under Dark, and flies straight up, leaving behind twin trails of light that crackle with lightning. They go higher, and higher until they reach space. There Sonic spins, and axe-kicks Dark in the head. The dazed dark hedgehog is sent into the atmosphere, fire cascading around him. Sonic spins in place, powering up a Lightspeed Attack before streaking right into Dark.

From below Amy lets out a shriek as the two crash into the base of a mountain. They all fly over with the help of those who can to find the two of them in a crater.

Sonic is holding Dark by the throat, Lightning cascading around them both.

**"Fool! How can you continue to fight?! We cannot touch with hurting us both, DESTROYING ME WITHOUT DESTROYING YOURSELF IS IMPOSSIBLE!"**

Sonic painfully considers this, **_"…Fine then!"_**

The lightning fades as black smoke begins to circle around them both.

**"No… What are you doing?!"**

**_"Putting you back where you belong!"_**

**"Y-you can't do this to me! I'M UNSTOPPABLE!"**

**_"Wanna bet?!"_**

The both of them are obscured from view as the smoke engulfs them both. White light occasionally pokes through the darkness. Finally it implodes on itself with a deafening BOOM!

When the dust settles there stands Sonic the Hedgehog, once again his normal self. He puts one hand on his hips, and gives them a thumbs-up, "Piece of cake!"

Sonic's eyelids droop, and he falls face-first on the ground. Shadow's Inhibitor Ring falls out of his quills, and pulses red as it lands on the ground beside him. Rouge's eyes widen because this looks all too familiar to her.

"Quick, help me!" She glides down to him, careful not to damage her broken ankle.

...

Sonic groans as he sits up. He's in his bed back home, though he doesn't remember coming back. He scratches behind his ear as he notices Amy in the room. She's asleep with her head on her arms, resting on his bedside.

Sonic smiles, and brushes his hand over her quills, "Thanks Ames, this time _you_ saved _me_."

He blinks when he notices the ring on his wrist. He looks at his other wrist, and sees another one. He carefully slides out of bed so he doesn't wake Amy, and notices another ring on each ankle.

"What the heck," Sonic examines the rings.

"…Sonic," Amy sleepily opens her eyes, and rubs them. She beams when she sees him standing, "Sonic!"

Before he can think about stopping her she hugs him, but it's not one of her crushing hugs he's used to. She sniffles, and wipes away happy tears. "Sonic… I was so worried about you."

He awkwardly returns the hug, "Ames, it's cool, I swear I'm back… Mind explaining the jewelry?"

Amy sits on the bed, and pats the blanket next to her for him to sit. "A lot happened while you were out Sonic."

"How long _was _I out?"

Amy chews her lip, "Uh…About three days."

Sonic lets that sink in, "…Okay…?"

Amy swallows, "Well, after we brought you home Tails did some tests."

"And…?"

Well, It was actually kinda funny… You fried the scanners he brought to look you over."

Sonic just blinks, "Then what happened?"

"Well, no one could explain it for a while. The next morning though Tikal told Knuckles where to find this old scroll of Echidna history. What happened between you, and Dark has happened before apparently."

Sonic sits down, and patiently listened.

"As best I understand it," Amy continues. "Echidnas were blessed with Chaos Powers back then. They could use Super forms, and the Guardian did sometimes to protect the Master Emerald. This was all after Chaos nearly wiped them out of course. Anyways, sometimes they could achieve power greater than a Super Form… But there was a catch."

Sonic's ears twitch, "Catch?"

"Yeah," Amy folds her ears back. "To do it two Echidnas had to combine their energy into one of them… the one who gave up their power usually died."

"And Shadow's already dead."

"Shadow?" Amy blinks in surprise.

Sonic nods, "Just before I got all that power I saw Shadow. He must have loaned me his power to make it happen."

"More like he gave it to you," Amy corrects. "Remember how you fainted after the fight? Rouge says Shadow would do the same thing if he went too long in a fight without his Inhibitor Rings."

Sonic looks down at his wrists, "So these…?"

Amy nods, "Shadow's rings, what power he gave you it looks like you got to keep it."

Sonic flexes his hands. "Ames, speaking of power, when I went through that second transformation Dark couldn't suck dark power out of me. Any idea why?"

Amy shrugs, "Probably the same reason you couldn't take light energy from him, he didn't have any."

Sonic smirks, "So when I went Hyper I became an entity of Light while he was one of Darkness… Two halves of the same coin I guess."

Amy cocks her head, "Hyper?"

"I think that's what I'm gonna call that form. It felt like my Super Form on a sugar high or something."

Amy laughs, "Alright then, Hyper Sonic it is."

Sonic laughs to, and then remembers something, "So what happened to the others?"

Amy sighs, "Everything has pretty much gone back to normal. Knuckles let Rouge bury Shadow's shoes on Angel Island. I think she really loved him Sonic, given a few more years they could have been together."

Sonic nods, "Yeah… What about Egghead?"

Amy rolls her eyes, "Tail got him a robotic hand, and I think this time Eggman got the message that taking over the world is a no-no. He's using the Shadow Clones he has left to continue his grandfather's research to make a cure for NIDS. Probably going to try taking over the world the financial way."

Sonic rubs the back of his head, "Oh joy.."

Amy puts her hand on his arm, "Thank you for coming back to us."

He pats her hand, "Thanks for bringing me back."

…

Sonic stands on the edge of a cliff, blue energy flowing between his fingers. He smirks, "Cool present Shads!"

He suddenly has the feeling that someone is watching him, and turns. There he sees the ghost of Shadow again. Shadow has his arms crossed, but for the first time Sonic can remember he's smiling.

Behind Shadow another ghost appears. It's a human girl with long blond hair, and a blue dress with a matching headband. She puts an arm around Shadow's head to put a hand on his shoulder. Shadow looks up at her, and sets a hand on hers.

Sonic remembers Shadow's last living word, "Maria?"

Maria nods, and Shadow nods to Sonic. The two ghost turn, and vanish as they walk away.

Sonic stands there for a minute, and then chuckles, "Well, looks like everyone got what they wanted."

Sonic turns back to the cliff, "But I'm not ready for a Happily Ever After just yet!"

With a whoop Sonic leaps off the side of the cliff to go look for his next adventure.

**_End_**


End file.
